Fire-escape.



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No. 708.825. Piwntedv sept. 9, |902.

B. V. MURRAY;

lFmE ESCAPE. (Application med out. s, 1901.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT l OFFICE.

BENJAMIN V. MURRAY, MAUD, PENNSYLVANIA.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters :Patent No. 708,825, dated. September 9,? 19027. l i Application iled October 3, 1901. Serial No. 77,395- (No model.) l y To a/ZZ whom it may concern: y

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN V. MURRAY,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at Maud, county ofBucks, and State of Pennsylvania,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fire-Escapes, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in fire-escapes, and has for its object to provide a simple and effective device of this description by which a person may escape from a burning building by sliding down the rope or cable and the rapidity of the descent regulated automatically and also being under the control of the person descending, and'after one person has escaped and has abandoned the apparatus the friction-sleeve which slides along the cable or rope will return automatically to the vpoint from which it started'. l

With these ends in view this invention consists in the details of Aconstruction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to whichl this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same, the construc-y tion and operation will nowkbe described in detail, referring to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification, in

Figure l represents a) perspective View of the interior ofa window, showing my 'apparatus secured in itsnormalposition when not in use. LFig. 2 is a perspective view of aportion of the outside ofa building, 'showing my apparatus' in use.4 Fig. Sisavertical longitudinal section of the friction-sleeveg-Fig. 4,

rior of the room. Tofthis-board is secured at w the point Bone end 'of thecable :or rope C.y This cable is secured to theboard by any suitablemeans, here shown as being rove through I a number'of holes and knotted at the rear of the board. This rope or eableC after passinglongitudinally through the friction-sleeve D is coiled upon a spool E, which spool is suspended from. the'boa'rd by means of a'hook E'.

ed by means of the same rope or cable F, whichv is attached at one end to the upper part of the friction-sleeve at the point F', and the other end is coiled about aspool G, journaled upon a stationary axle G', located with` in the'box G2, which-box isl also secured to the board A instead of the window.v

H is a coil-spring, oneend being secured'to l thestationary axle Gand the vother end se- Incase of a fire it is only necessary to. take ldown the spool E and throw it out of the cured tozthe spool G. Thus as the frictionsleeve descends the rope F` will be pulled with' ,it Vand unwound from the spool G, thus r0- 'eatingl the spool, which will Wind up the spring y H,and the springis of such a tension that when the'weight of the person is removed from the friction-sleeve the springwill again coil up the rope F and return Vthe'sleeveto its' original position.

The friction-sleeve Dhas'an opening formed longitudinally through the same, through which passesth'e ropey or cable o. An opening D' ispmvidedrin onefside of f the sleeve, in the .upper halt' thereof, and in' the vupperend ofgthis opening' is pivoted the leverI at the point I'. l This lever is recessed upon its rear side' and has journaled therein the small friction-rollers .Lwhich project out-` f ward a slight ways froml the lever and are adapted to' bearagainstthe cable C. l Upon the outside of the lever are formed aV series of notches K, and upon each side of thesleeve D are formed eyes L. j` f u M is a ropeor other iexible'cord which 'passes'through the eyes L upon each,v sideA of the sleeve, and the loop of-.therope M passes around and over the lever' I and'is'held in 'position invone of the-notchesK. 'li`.acl1"end,` 1f

roo which the person descending is adapted to of therope M is secured tofa seat N, upon sit. Thus theweight of the person will draw upon the rope M, which will tend to press the lever I inward to bring the friction-rollers J into frictional contact with the rope or cable C. 'Ihis will cause a certain amount of friction to be established between the rollers J and the rope C, which will retard the sleeve inits descent upon said cable; but on account of the frictional contacts being rollers there never will be suiicient friction established to cause the sleeve to stop entirely, but the heavier the person descending may be the more friction will be exerted upon the cable or rope C, and therefore the descent will be regulated automatically according to the weight of the person descending.

It wouldsometimes be desirable for the person descending to stop entirely or to further reduce the speed for the purpose of avoiding obstacles or other reasons. Therefore I provide upon the lower end of the friction-sleeve D a second lever O, which is located within an opening P, formed in the side of the sleeve, and this lever is pivoted in said opening at the point O. Upon the inner side of this lever is formed a frictional surface Q, which comes in contact with the rope or cable C, and the lower end of the lever O will stand at a distance beyond the sleeve D. The seat N will be so located that the person descending may easily grasp the sleeve D around the lower end, so that the hands may come over the lever O, and by exerting a slight pressure upon the lever to force the saine inward the sleeve may be stopped entirely or the speed of the same may be reduced at will. This lever O is not en tirely essential, except in the case ot' emergency, and therefore a person might descend by the apparatus without operating the lever and without injuring himself. Near the upper end of the sleeve D is formed an eye R, through which a belt or strap S may be passed to be buckled around the person descending under the arms. This strap or belt S is not necessarily essential, but may be used in the case of women or children or any person liable to become frightened and fall.

The advantage of my invention is that by means of a very simple but efficient and du rable device a person is enabled to quickly descend from a burning building, and said descent will be regulated automatically and at the same time be under the control of the descending person, and as soon as one person has safely reached the ground and disengaged himself from the apparatus the traveling member of the apparatus will be returned automatically to the point from which it started. This is of great advantage, as it often happens that a number of persons are in the same room, and with most of the lire-escape apparatus now in use after one person has escaped it is either impossible to return the apparatus to its originalposition or the return of the same depends upon the people upon the ground, who are liable during the excitement not to return the apparatus or do not understand how to do so; but in my invention the traveling member is returned as often as relieved of the weight.

Another advantage of my invention is that having the spool secured to one end of the rope the said rope may be easily stored above the window, and when thrown from the window may he more accurately thrown, so as to pass to the other side of the street, if necessary, and be secured there, so that the person may descend upon an incline to'the other side of the street and escape any fire which may be issuing from the windows below.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact construction here shown,as slight modi` iications could be made Without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is- 1. In a lire-escape apparatus, a board secured above the window upon the interior of the room, a rope or cable secured at one end to said board, the other end of said rope or cable adapted to'be normally wound upon a spool, and said spool suspended from the board, a friction-sleeve through which the rope or cable passes longitudinally, an opening formed in one side of said friction-sleeve, a lever I pivoted at one end in said opening, a recess formed in the rear face of said lever, a series of friction-rollers journaled in said recess, a series of notches formed upon the outside of the lower end of the lever, eyes IOO formed upon each side of the friction-sleeve, l

a seat, a rope, each end of which after passing through the eyes is secured to said seat, the loop of said rope passing around the lever and held in position by one of the notches an opening formed in the lower end of the sleeve, a lever O pivotedat its upper end in said opening, a frictional surface formed upon the inner face of said lever and adapted to be brought in contact with the rope or cable, an eye R formed upon the sleeve, a strap or belt S adapted to be passed through said eye, automatic means for returning the frictionsleeve to the window after the weight of the person descending has been removed from the same, substantially as and for the purpose specified,

2. In a {ire-escape, a suspended rope or cable, a friction-sleeve through which the rope or cable passes, an opening formed in one side of said friction-sleeve, a lever I pivoted at one end in said opening, a recess formed in the rear face of said lever, a series of frictionrollers journaled in said recess and adapted to be brought in contact with the rope or cable, a series of notchesformed upon the outside of the lower end of the lever, eyes formed upon each side of the friction-sleeve, a seat, a rope, each end of which, after passing through the eyes, is secured to said seat, the loop of said rope passing' around the lever and held in position by one of the notches, an opening formed in the lower end of the sleeve, a lever O pivoted at its upper end in said opening, a

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frictional surface formed upon the inner face of said lever and adapted to be brought into contact with the rope or cable, an eye R formed with the sleeve, a strap or belt S adapted-to be passed through said eye and around the body'o'r` the person descending underneath the arms, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two sub- 1o scribing Witnesses.

BENJAMIN V. MURRAY.

Witnesses: n

L. W. MORRISON, H. B. HALLOCK. 

